The potential role for emergence in autism

Abstract

Although most research on autistic behavior has considered autism categorically, the increasingly apparent genetic and phenotypic complexities of autism are prompting a more dimensional approach to this area. The long-standing interest in a less categorical approach is made clear from a review of literature. The accumulating empirical support for viewing autism-related phenomena as separable and fractionable is outlined and includes data indicating that many of the behaviors occur in isolation in family members and the general population, are not highly correlated within individuals, and appear to be inherited separately. However, it is emphasized that some of the most common and characteristic phenomena observed in individuals diagnosed with autism do not run in their families. It is suggested that these novel, ''emergent,'' phenomena may arise in the individual from interacting configurations of co-occurring traits or from the interaction of genetic and biological factors underlying the traits. A number of autism-related phenomena including intellectual disability, seizures, persistence of primitive reflexes, stereotypies, self-injurious behavior, savant abilities, and morphological abnormalities, among others, are discussed as potentially being emergent. It is concluded that consideration of the role of emergence in autistic behavior and related phenomena should complement a reductionist approach and might help illuminate the components and complexities of autism.

Sensory Impairments and Autism: A Re-Examination of Causal Modelling

“…Recent studies have shown a continuous distribution of autistic behavioural features in families of probands and in the general population (Constantino and Todd 2003;Spiker et al 2002), the genetic separability of the primary diagnostic components , genetic heterogeneity (Anderson 2008;Cook 1998; The Autism Genome Consortium 2007) and the likely effect of environmental factors (Herbert et al 2006). These findings have led to an increasing perception of autism as a heterogeneous condition (Anderson 2008;Happé et al 2006, Spiker et al 2002).…”

“…These findings have led to an increasing perception of autism as a heterogeneous condition (Anderson 2008;Happé et al 2006, Spiker et al 2002). Yet despite an explicit awareness of heterogeneity issues over many years (Anderson 2008) the research designs of many empirical studies treat autism as a unitary condition .…”

“…Recent genetic and population studies (Constantino and Todd 2003;Spiker et al 2002;The Autism Genome Project Consortium 2007) have led to the increasingly widespread perception of autistic characteristics, not as indicators of a discrete developmental condition, but as the emergent properties of the interactions between genetic, environmental and behavioural systems (Anderson 2008;Happé et al 2006). Disentangling causal chains in complex systems is problematic and the identification of either biological markers or endophenotypes for genetic variation has become a key task for researchers (Anderson 2008;Gould and Gottesman 2005).…”

Thinking outside the executive functions box: Theory of mind and pragmatic abilities in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder

“…Research regarding distinctive but related neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and autism, 1 is increasingly moving towards determining cognitive endophenotypes that can characterize the heterogenic nature of these disorders, instead of trying to pinpoint which single cognitive construct underlies all AD/HD or autism characteristics (e.g., Anderson, 2008;Castellanos & Tannock, 2002;Happe´, Ronald & Plomin, 2006;Viding & Blakemore, 2007). These endophenotypes can be conceptualized on a neurophysiological, neuroanatomical and/or cognitive level, and they are the intermediate between the behavioural classification (i.e., AD/HD as phenotype) and the biological variables (i.e., genotypes and environment) that cause the disorder (Gottesman & Gould, 2003).…”

Immune-Glutamatergic Dysfunction as a Central Mechanism of the Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…Recent research has focused on the role of synapse structure and signaling pathways in the brain as central to the development of ASD. Anderson [180] suggests in his review that the novel, "emergent" phenomena may arise in the individual from interacting of underlying genetic and biological factors or cooccurring traits.…”